Unexpected Repercussions
by MoonlitePage
Summary: King Arthur Pendragon learns about one of the side effects of when the Court Warlock Merlin uses his magic to take lives. Some angst, Sort of AU, Friendship, Could be Murther, Short, One-Shot


There was an army outside the walls of Camelot. King Arthur stood on the outer battlement studying them. There were guards stationed periodically around on the ramparts but only the knights from his Round Table were nearby. And Merlin. Always Merlin. The king glanced at the warlock at his side, whose expression was more stoic than usual.

"Merlin?" He questioned and the warlock took a breath before he straightened up.

"I know." He replied. He stepped closer to the wall's edge. Both Lancelot and Gwaine stepped towards him like they wanted to stop him, because it left the warlock more exposed to any archers. But they all knew he was probably the safest of them all with his magic, even if Arthur couldn't help tensing.

A few of the enemy knights nearby looked up at them, watching them closely. Arthur tightened the grip on his sword just in case one of them took a shot at Merlin, magic protection be damned. The warlock closed his eyes and began muttering under his breath. Spell words that Arthur had never been able to understand. When Merlin opened his eyes they were blazing gold. The warlock's gaze flicked over the army quickly, pausing very briefly at moments.

After only a few seconds Merlin began muttering again then raised his hands as wind started sweeping through the army's camp. This spell was longer and the opposing force had finally realized something was happening. They were looking towards the castle wall, but no one made a move before Merlin finished his spell and swiped his hand through the air. A particularly strong gust of wind swept through the army and about a sixth of them just disappeared into dust as it passed them by.

Arthur swallowed. He often forgot how powerful Merlin really was, but the effort had barely left the warlock panting. He could have killed the entire army if he'd wished. Arthur set a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it. The soldiers had been sent into a panic and many were casting fearful glances towards Camelot, and in particular towards Merlin. But they still frantically packed up their makeshift camp and fled with almost no coordination.

"Well done, Merlin." He praised and got a flicker of a smile from the warlock. It didn't quite match up with the sadness in his eyes, but Arthur knew that Merlin disliked taking lives. It was partially why he hated making Merlin do things like this. "Make sure the guards keep a close eye in case they come back and I want you all to join me for dinner tonight. Come on, Merlin." Arthur added to the Knights, giving the warlock's shoulder another squeeze before he let go and started walking. Merlin followed him down off the wall without any extra encouragement.

* * *

Arthur had noticed that Merlin seemed off, but it wasn't until the warlock quietly ducked out of the celebratory dinner early that he decided he couldn't let it go. He glanced at Morgana, who just gave him a smile and motioned for him to go. "Go check on your warlock." She insisted warmly and he smiled gratefully.

"Thanks, Morgana." He replied before he slipped out himself. He knew where Merlin would go. He didn't quite understand why, but whenever he really wanted time on his own the warlock would go below the castle to where Killaragah had once been kept. Normally Arthur left Merlin alone when he came here, but he was really worried. He had seen Merlin mourning before, but the warlock had never looked quite like this.

He was part way through the rock passageway, torch in hand, when he heard it. It sounded almost like sobbing, but with more gasping. Arthur walked a little quicker and paused when he finally saw Merlin. The warlock was curled up in a ball on the ground, rocking slightly as he alternated whimpering and gasping. "Merlin." Arthur was quick to put the torch in it's sconce and knelt.

Merlin hadn't even reacted to his voice. Nor did he react when Arthur touched his shoulder. He gave the warlock a little shake and Merlin finally looked at him. His eyes were blazing gold and looked distant, like he couldn't even see Arthur in front of him. And there were tears falling down both cheeks. "Merlin, what's happening? How can I help?" Arthur requested, and he knew he sounded concerned. He _was_ concerned: he was terrified.

Merlin blinked slowly, but hadn't stopped whimpering yet. Arthur shifted to sit on the ground and pulled the warlock on his lap. Merlin was limp and shaking and Arthur couldn't help wrapping his arms around him. He didn't know what to do. It was obvious that despite the gold eyes nothing was happening around them so Arthur was fairly certain something was happening to Merlin.

He was tempted to get help, but Merlin had come here for a reason so he had to have had some idea of what was happening. Maybe. Hopefully. Especially because Merlin did not want to let him get up. At his single attempt to stand up with Merlin, the warlock had started thrashing and Arthur immediately discarded the idea. He just held onto and tried to comfort his friend, though he had no idea how much he was helping. If he was even helping at all.

Slowly Merlin's whimpering faded into little gasps and then actually faded entirely as Merlin curled into his chest. "Merlin?" He asked softly, as he had periodically since he'd found the warlock. Merlin groaned softly and then pulled his face back. The gold in his eyes flickered before it finally faded back to Merlin's usual blue.

Merlin blinked a few times and slowly his eyes landed on Arthur's face. "Arthur?" He whispered and Arthur smiled at him.

"Are you okay?" He asked and Merlin nodded. He pushed out of Arthur's hold and rubbed his face. Arthur let him and stayed quiet as he gave Merlin the moment he obviously needed to collect himself. "What happened?" Well, he wasn't known for his patience and he was worried.

Merlin swallowed hard before he finally met Arthur's eyes. "It's… You know about my deep connection to magic?" He asked and Arthur nodded. He knew about it, though not in much detail. "Well, everything living has some magic because it's inherently tied to life. And when I take life there's a... reaction. A backlash. I see and experience the lives of those I kill, or the life they might have had." Merlin explained.

Arthur considered it for a moment with a growing sense of horror at what he'd been making Merlin do. "Why didn't you tell me?" Arthur demanded and Merlin just gave him a sad smile that gave him the answer before Merlin even spoke.

"Because it's what I need to do. What you need me to do." He said and Arthur shook his head.

"Yes, but not if this is the cost. I can't ask you to suffer through this every time." Arthur insisted. But Merlin's sad smile didn't fade.

"You don't have to ask, Arthur." The warlock said. He sounded ready for Arthur to let this go, but he'd let Merlin suffer enough for him already.

"Then I'm not going to let you. Merlin, you really can't think that _any_ of us would have let you do this even once if we'd known." Arthur insisted and Merlin gave him a look. The same look he gave Arthur every time he thought Arthur was being an idiot. Arthur got that look a lot, when he thought about it.

"Why do you think I'm down here? I didn't want you to know." Merlin informed him patiently. "And it's not normally this bad. This is the worst it's been because there were so many at once." Merlin added. The warlock shifted and stood.

Arthur followed him quickly and caught his wrist before Merlin could walk away. "Merlin." He ordered and the man looked at him with a soft smile on his face.

"Arthur." He replied teasingly. "I'm fine. Really." He promised.

"This time, yes. But what if something happens to you in the future because of this? I _need_ you, Merlin. We'll find another way to deal with any enemies. I don't want you to go through this again." Arthur insisted and Merlin sighed, but it sounded lighter than before.

"You mean I am going to have to spend the next few nights with minimal sleep as I research this because you'll annoy me like crazy until I find a solution." Merlin corrected and Arthur couldn't help smiling. If Merlin was up to teasing him then he couldn't feel too poorly.

"I mean, it doesn't have to be minimal sleep." Arthur corrected as they walked out of the cave. Merlin actually laughed and Arthur was glad to see such a relaxed expression on his friend's face. But he couldn't forget the way Merlin had looked when he had entered the cavern and silently swore that he would do whatever he could to make sure that Merlin didn't suffer through that again. At the very least, not alone.


End file.
